I saw a forum member on here who had painted the interior of his headlights black and I really liked the look. I tried to get him to do mine but there is considerable risk to doing this due to the high cost of $1200 ea for factory oem headlights. I did some research and found out that AAC installs halos and so I called them to see if they could also paint the inside (the chrome) of my headlights black. They said they had done hundreds of sets but only 3 CTS-V headlights. Justin Beiber, a few pro athletes and mine was 4th on the list. I was so excited.
Price was 250 for the pair, to paint the interior but the price went to 150 if I got the halos installed. I asked how the halos worked and they explained that in order to have full functionality, I needed the remote (another 60 bucks). The total price I got quoted for painting, install of halos, price of halos themselves, remote and shipping back to me was $500. Wow, I was really getting excited.
Here is where it all started to go down hill. My body shop took my headlights out (2 hours labor) and shipped them to AAC in LA. I asked them to ship them priority because I was told that AAC was starting to get backlogged due to SEMA. The shipped overnight because they say they didnt know that priority meant 2 day and got charged $260 to ship the headlights. OUCH. I woulnt have believed it if I had gotten the receipt. So now, I'm in for $100 labor, $260 shipping and $500 from AAC, $860 total.
AAC called me the next day, said the headlights had arrived but one had a hole in it. Luckily it was in the housing but it was a brand new replacement headlight I had ordered from GM after hitting a deer. My body shop swears there were no holes in the headlights when they shipped and how could there be when one was brand new, never been installed. Oh well, moving on...
AAC did a great job with turning the headlights around (I told them we would patch the hole when it came back) and I had the headlights back within a week. The body shop called as asked where the remote was. I called AAC and they told me I never ordered the remote and hadnt paid for it. I was a little annoyed but not freakin' pissed. I just asked them to send the remote (the sold me remote for $50 instead of the normal $60. With taxes and shipping, I was up around $60 anyway so now I'm at $920. Headlights get installed (another 2 hours labor), halos wired right to the battery with a full function remote. Very cool, especially with the red demon eyes (halos). I didnt get to inspect the headlights until a few days later but I was pleased with the paint job and the body shopped sealed the hole in the housing. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a small patch of chrome that they missed. it was on the outside of the HID housing, about 1" wide and a .25" tall.
only visible within 3 or 4 feet. I contacted AAC and they said to send them back. Problem: They were already installed and it would have cost me $100 to take them out and another $100 to put them back in. So I asked them what it was worth to them to not have to pay for taking the headlights out, shipping them back, taking the headlight apart, repainting, putting the headlight back together, re-shipping to me and reinstalling. I estimated all that to cost at least $300. They offered me $50. I was so insulted. $50 didnt even cover what it was going to cost me to have the headlights taken out. We began going going back and forth and I asked to speak to superiors and was constantly kept in the lower ranks. The car had not been driven yet at this point and so a few days before Christmas, the body shop drove it to the tire shop to get the new wheels put on and the alignment done. Instantly, the lights fogged. Both of the, the whole lenses. My hopes dropped when I got the news and the body shop sent the pics over. I contacted AAC immediately and they said to send them back and they would take care of them and fix the paint. What they wouldn't do, is pay for taking the headlights out and putting them back in. They said its not covered in their warranty. I am blown away that they could be that unrealistic. I spent weeks arguing with them via email. I've asked to get above Tiffany who claims she is their COO but I cant get anywhere. I threatened a smear campaign if they dont make this right but I still cant get their attention. They have the headlights now and are fixing them but now I don't know how to test them to make sure they are sealed. So, if they are fixed when I get them back, I'm now into these for $1120 but there's no guarantee that this is the end of my expense. Any advice on how I can get them to make this right?

And I apologize for making this lengthy but you decide for yourself whether this is a place you want to handle your car.

Just as a note, they do not separate the headlight at the seam, they cut the black part (housing) and do a plastic weld to re-seal.

I almost forgot, after I had shipped them the headlight and we had agreed on price, they tried to up the price on me because they said they were going to have to outsource the painting due to the size and complexity. I told them that even mentioning this after I'd already shipped and they had already opened my headlights. How dirty is that to try to get more money out of me when they had me by the balls. I had no other choice at that point, right? I did convince them to keep the pricing the same by threatening to expose their poor business practices.

I believe Dark Knight is doing these for $300 for the painting and if he stand behind his work, at least there is an alternative.

tkracing

01-20-13, 09:04 AM

Sorry to hear of your troubles with ACC but it's not the first time. I have read on other forums that people were not happy with their workmanship and customer service. Hope your able to resolve this quickly and as painless as possible.

TheDarkKnight

01-20-13, 11:06 AM

Yes we will start doing these in the month of February after I complete mine for everyone to see.
As I said before we have done of a hundred pairs of tundra headlights with no problems what so ever, so I am going to do mine as a pilot set for you all to see. We do not cut any plastic to get to the inside of the light housing. We use heat to warm existing glue and then separate the lights.
We also will offer the halos for an added fee, and yes they need an additional remote to be controlled. We will offer different finish options for the interior housing.
I was talking with Ben at w ea p on x. He is going to be the first retail customer for his new 1000 hp build for mid feb.
I will keep you guys all in the loop as soon as mine are completed.

NathanScott

01-23-13, 09:02 PM

Glad you will be offering this to the V community. Looking forward to your results.